Rate the Hire (Jim Mora)

[jdb50]

I'm a 7. I wanted a younger HC who was on the rise. JM was 29-11 his first 3 years at UCLA then went 17-19 his last 3 years. I hope he can really make a difference here in recruiting and gameday competency. I agree with him there is a lot to work with here and hope he can up the energy level for all 5 years of his contract.

 

[rich1122]

He’s Hurley. Turn it around. Even when Hurley had a few tough years he put it on the right track. Bold pick.

Hiring the Holy Cross coach maybe would have been nice, but a guy like this puts us on the map immediately.

 

[DCT]

Does anyone else think that maybe the news got leaked that UConn was going to name Mora HC, so AD Dave was forced to do that strange Zoom intro presser from Mora's lakehouse in Idaho? Or was that like on purpose? Seemed rushed kinda, and they mentioned they would do a official presser when he's in Storrs the 28th.

I would have liked this more if the announcement was made in Storrs. Agree with kinda rushed. Does this mean Mora hasn't seen the football facilities?

 

[JMick]

5. Totally lukewarm on this. Yeah we have a body in the HC office now. He surely has certain connections with the NFL, and maybe some in College. He has been in charge of a program before, and isn’t some mid-major coordinator.

The problem is that he was mediocre at a big PAC-12 school in his lone stint in CFB, which only lasted 5 years. I’ll be the first to say I have no idea how well he recruited; but that will always be my #1 concern regarding a coach coming from anywhere but college to lead a college program. Maybe he knows some young guys he can hire and delegate with good energy who can recruit; but, as I said, I’m lukewarm. I think how out of left field this hire is may be cause for concern itself; like you couldn’t get anyone with more (recent) CBN coaching experiment? Mora hasn’t even been doing what PP or Edsall were doing in the NFL when we hired them.

This just... Isn't true

He was not mediocre. The Pac-12 the years he was there was really, really good. It would wipe the floor with the PAC of the last couple years.

The dude won 10 games twice and had two bad years, both of which were surrounding his divorce.

The only thing that gives me pause is that all of his teams get worse. He starts out strong and then they go downhill. But if he starts out strong and gives us 3 solid years and then starts to fall off, I'll take it. It'll be more than anyone else has done.

The ceiling on this hire is huge. He's an elite recruiter, something we have never had here. He's also had a good eye for assistants and hopefully that continues. I am not opposed to him getting the band back together with Spanos and Mazzone since that's where he had his greatest success. And because he's 60, it's probably his last stop either way. So if it works out we should have 7-10 years of a solid football coach

 

[CL82]

The anthropologist in me is noticing that that younger poster with hoops-referencing avatars and handles are less enthusiastic about this hire that others. Just an observation and not sure what it means, but curious.

Because anything that might make football viable is a bad thing?

 

[cohenzone]

This just... Isn't true

He was not mediocre. The Pac-12 the years he was there was really, really good. It would wipe the floor with the PAC of the last couple years.

The dude won 10 games twice and had two bad years, both of which were surrounding his divorce.

The only thing that gives me pause is that all of his teams get worse. He starts out strong and then they go downhill. But if he starts out strong and gives us 3 solid years and then starts to fall off, I'll take it. It'll be more than anyone else has done.

The ceiling on this hire is huge. He's an elite recruiter, something we have never had here. He's also had a good eye for assistants and hopefully that continues. I am not opposed to him getting the band back together with Spanos and Mazzone since that's where he had his greatest success. And because he's 60, it's probably his last stop either way. So if it works out we should have 7-10 years of a solid football coach

Well, it’s pretty hard to think his first year will be terrific. If he can take this program from, using auto terms, 0 to say 65 in a few years he’s earning his keep. Anything beyond that would be pretty hard. So I’d think the time to hope for a better than average record is year 3. We’ll see and I hope it’s fast because I’m already on the far side of the hill.

 

[SubbaBub]

This just... Isn't true

He was not mediocre. The Pac-12 the years he was there was really, really good. It would wipe the floor with the PAC of the last couple years.

The dude won 10 games twice and had two bad years, both of which were surrounding his divorce.

The only thing that gives me pause is that all of his teams get worse. He starts out strong and then they go downhill. But if he starts out strong and gives us 3 solid years and then starts to fall off, I'll take it. It'll be more than anyone else has done.

The ceiling on this hire is huge. He's an elite recruiter, something we have never had here. He's also had a good eye for assistants and hopefully that continues. I am not opposed to him getting the band back together with Spanos and Mazzone since that's where he had his greatest success. And because he's 60, it's probably his last stop either way. So if it works out we should have 7-10 years of a solid football coach

I guarantee, we will not get worse. There, I said it and I'm not ashamed.

 

[huskymedic]

I would have liked this more if the announcement was made in Storrs. Agree with kinda rushed. Does this mean Mora hasn't seen the football facilities?

“Mora visited the UConn campus in in 2019 and toured the football facilities before serving as a color commentator for UConn’s 56-10 loss to Navy at Rentschler Field in 2019.”

 

[Waquoit]

“Mora visited the UConn campus in in 2019 and toured the football facilities before serving as a color commentator for UConn’s 56-10 loss to Navy at Rentschler Field in 2019.”

I love the post you were responding to. Folks just can't process what an incredible hire this was.

 

[gtcam]

He had at least 2 top 15 recruiting classes that I know of at UCLA so - he can recruit well.

recruiting at UCLA vs recruiting at UConn - yeah thats an equal playing field
I gave the choice a 6 - it is a total surprise and makes you wonder who turned DB down
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt but wish it was someone who is familiar with the East of the Mississippi

 

[CL82]

I guarantee, we will not get worse. There, I said it and I'm not ashamed.

 

[LIuconn]

Would love to know what the top 5 were

 

[CONN78SEJ]

He also had two 10 win seasons, one 9 win and one 8 win.

I remember UCLA when he took over, they were very tough to beat. I gave DB’s choice an 8, was a little surprised at $1.5M for starters, but that does leave a lot of money left over for the OC, DC and the rest of coach’s staff. With that in mind, I think Dave really did good here.

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

He had at least 2 top 15 recruiting classes that I know of at UCLA so - he can recruit well.

Kind of hard to compare UC & UCLA in terms of recruiting.

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

Waiting for him to parrot his father in the famous quote.
PLAYOFFS?!
PLAYOFFS?!.
after a few losses.

 

[RioDog]

Because anything that might make football viable is a bad thing?

Certainly a possibility. I also believe they live in the cotton candy and unicorns world of UConn hoops and think that football should hire a young hotshot coach like Hurley, and that if that's not possible then somehow the worthiness of UConn football is diminished.

 

[Brochacho]

I gave it a 6. I think it’s a good hire but I also thought the last two were good hires - so I deducted a point for each of those. Cautiously optimistic.

 

[freescooter]

5. Totally lukewarm on this. Yeah we have a body in the HC office now. He surely has certain connections with the NFL, and maybe some in College. He has been in charge of a program before, and isn’t some mid-major coordinator.

The problem is that he was mediocre at a big PAC-12 school in his lone stint in CFB, which only lasted 5 years. I’ll be the first to say I have no idea how well he recruited; but that will always be my #1 concern regarding a coach coming from anywhere but college to lead a college program. Maybe he knows some young guys he can hire and delegate with good energy who can recruit; but, as I said, I’m lukewarm. I think how out of left field this hire is may be cause for concern itself; like you couldn’t get anyone with more (recent) CBN coaching experiment? Mora hasn’t even been doing what PP or Edsall were doing in the NFL when we hired them.

If you look at his UCLA predecessor and his successor, both with losing records for their careers there, his 46-30 with multiple 10 win years doesn’t look so bad. UCLA basically wanted Chip Kelly. They got him. The result hasn’t been pretty.

 

[RioDog]

Gave a nine. I recognized the name. And if what is being posted about the hiring process is correct, that DB went outside the the Search Firm list, actually listened to a staff member's recommendation and exhaustively reviewed it, that speaks volumes about our AD. AD Dave is dedicated to the rebuild, the long-term success of the program, and is willing to wholly own the hire.

 

[nickp91]

I think Jim Mora can turn the UCONN football team around he’s had success in Falcons and UCLA!!!

 

[coachcap]

Nine from me as a rating, When I heard the news over the radio, I was floored that DB Could hire a known quantity coach with such credentials. A huge name for recruiting purposes. I wonder if Coach Mora's hiring opens up Husky recruiting into California? His he kept up his connections? At the very least, this hiring puts a huge damper on all the rubbish about moving the program to FCS status or disbanding it all together. Take THAT naysayers!

 

[Kolumbo]

the photo shopping could be improved

 

[F101Voodoo]

I may be overly optimistic or hopefull that I will still be alive when Our Huskies get to a real bowl game so I rated Mora a 7 +. After watching the video I am less concerned Mora being a Pascalooni-DaffyDiaco-Fords Failure =Edsel the retread flat tire.

 

[Vowelguy]

Average rating 7.7 after 290 votes